3Com wins large deal

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles in Oman is using a WAN/LAN network solution from 3Com to connect its nationwide chain of branch offices with its head office in Muscat.

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles in Oman is using a WAN/LAN network solution from 3Com to connect its nationwide chain of branch offices with its head office in Muscat. The company, Oman’s exclusive Nissan dealership, has been using a centralised enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from SAP, as part of a drive to improve customer service. Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has a network of 15 locations, each of which contains showrooms, service centres and warehouse facilities. A number of service centres have been designated for round-the-clock operation, with the ERP system being deployed. To make the most of its ERP implementation and ensure secure communications between offices, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles required a WAN/LAN solution with the ability to relay information between the central SAP servers based in the Muscat headquarters and the company’s branch offices. After reviewing various options, the company went for 3Com’s WAN/LAN solution. “Our business depends on having reliable connections between our numerous locations,” said Dileep Somani, general manager IT, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles. “This network is mission-critical; all business transactions must traverse this system and therefore any solution that we deploy must be extremely reliable and deliver high-performance.” “3Com’s router and switch technology provides us with the connectivity and features that we need to grow the business while providing exceptional levels of service to our clients. This solution is designed to be scalable, functional, easy to install and works out of the box – offering everything that we required and much more.” The 3Com implementation consists of a number of router and switch products, as well as 3Com’s Guardian Service for constant support. Located at the company’s headquarters, one router, the 5860, delivers high-performance WAN access routing across the network, with another router ensuring that critical SAP data gets priority ahead of other traffic. Redundancy features are also configured, to guarantee a constant connection between branches. 3Com’s LAN equipment forms the internal backbone of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles’ network, with a SuperStack 3 Switch 4924 acting as the core of the infrastructure and providing gigabit ethernet connections to the company’s 12-unit server farm. Four other SuperStack switches supply Fast Ethernet connections to users in the headquarters, with each branch location having a switch for desktop connectivity. “Suhail Bahwan Automobiles had specific business aims that required an immediate answer,” ,” said Wael Fakharany, regional manager, 3Com. “Our scalable solution will enable the company to not only keep pace with its rapid growth, but also exceed that growth over the coming months and years.”